A couple of tourists who parked their car in Dublin’s north inner city, returned after sightseeing to find their car and all their belongings, including their passports, stolen.

For Sebastian, from Berlin, it was his first time in Ireland, but Lena, from Vienna, had been once before and could not wait to come back.

"We arrived from Liverpool in the early hours of last Tuesday morning and looked for a place to park, but parking in Dublin is very expensive and we found a place in the car park of Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Sean McDermott Street," Sebastian told the Herald.

"We parked at around 11 or 11.30am and paid €6 in a pay and display machine to park for the day."

Sean McDermott street and neighbouring Railway street, Buckingham street and Foley street are known to be areas with serious anti-social behaviour issues, while some have also been named in several Sunday World sting operations.

In September 2014 we uncovered the 'Railway Kids' drug gang selling 'crystal meth' in the heart of Dublin’s north inner city.

In 2014 a foreign national was stabbed twice in the stomach on Champion's Ave, just off Sean McDermott street, while a pregnant woman was attacked and car-jacked on nearby Mountjoy Square in May of the same year and the car was eventually stopped by gardai on Sean McDermott street.

When Sebastian and Lena arrived back to their car after a day of sightseeing they found their car had been taken.

"We were having a great day and then around 11pm we went back but the car was gone," said Sebastian.

"Some of my clothes were strewn around the car park in the mud, and our cooler box was broken up, but everything else was gone. We could see broken glass, so we had an idea that it had not been towed away.